Chris Valaika has improved his walk rate since being promoted to Chattanooga. He only walked seven times in 135 atbats with Sarasota. He's already walked nine times in only 98 atbats with Chattanooga. That's a good sign. He could really be something if he can consistently keep his OBP around 60-65 points higher than his batting average like it is now. It seems to take him a while to get adjusted to a new level but once he does he always goes on a tear like he is on now.
He seems to understand he needs to improve his plate discipline too...he made this quote while playing in Hawaii during the off season.
"Offensively, I think I need to work on some plate discipline, having some better at-bats," he said. "Defensively, I need the consistency and confidence to play everywhere in the infield."
I too would like to see Stubbs get a promotion to Chattanooga. He's not dominating the FSL or anything but I'd like to see him promoted to AA and see how his power plays in the Southern League. I've been impressed with parts of his game this year. The 36 walks in 201 atbats is awesome. The 19 stolen bases in 24 attempts is an acceptable rate. His defense is plus like always. He's also got 20 extra-base hits in 201 atbats, which isn't awful but I'd still like to see a few more homeruns. The biggest positive is his OBP (.383) is 114 points higher than his batting average (.269). That's impressive. Obviously the biggest negative is the 60 strikeouts in 201 atbats. That's an average of a strikeout every 3.35 atbats. If he could cut that down to about a K every 4.0 atbats or so that would be nice. With his OBP skills, stolen base ability, and plus defense he could be a big asset in CF if he can hit .270 or so in the majors.
I listened to the radio broadcast and they said something in his eye took him out of the game
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